Hundreds march for peace in pro-Palestinian rally in East Vancouver Friday

Correction: This article has been corrected to clarify that the pro-Palestinian march in Vancouver was not related to Hamas’ “day of rage.” It has also been updated to reflect that hundreds of people participated in the march. CityNews apologizes for any harm caused.

Hundreds of people took part in a pro-Palestine march Friday evening, as the war between Israel and Hamas militants enters its second week.

The “All Out for Palestine” rally began with people congregating at Vancouver’s Commercial-Broadway SkyTrain Station, with numbers quickly increasing to hundreds.

The march, part of a worldwide series of rallies organized by Palestinian youth and other advocacy groups, headed south to Grandview Park along Commercial Drive, before reaching its final destination at Victoria Park.

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Footage posted to social media shows hundreds walking the street, chanting, and holding signs saying, “Free Palestine”, “Stop [the] Siege on Gaza Now”, and “Steadfast Until Liberation”.

Organizers had previously asked attendees to avoid engaging in conflict and to keep things peaceful.

Smoke from green and black flares rose up into the air during the march, and some participants lingered into the night urging for a peaceful resolution to the war.

The rally comes as violence and devastation broke out in the Middle East last week after Hamas militants stormed into parts of Israel in a surprise ground and air offensive.

Israel’s military ordered hundreds of thousands of civilians living in Gaza City to evacuate Friday ahead of a feared Israel ground offensive. That directive came on the heels of what the United Nations said was a warning it received from Israel to evacuate 1.1 million people living in northern Gaza. 

Federal Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says the government is still working to get Canadians out of the Gaza Strip, but announced an evacuation plan for those in the West Bank. Joly’s announcement comes after an earlier plan to allow foreign nationals to leave the Palestinian territory of Gaza via a border crossing with Egypt was cancelled Saturday. 

She says about 160 Canadians and their relatives are still in Gaza.

Since Saturday, more than 3,200 people have been killed during the violence.

The Vancouver Police Department says they are stepping up security at several sites in the city, including Jewish places of worship and community centres, as it is keeping a close eye on global events — after Hamas called for a “global day of rage” — to “assess violence and disorder in the city,” but it says no specific threat has been identified in Vancouver.

–With files from The Associated Press and The Canadian Press